Seattle – A federal judge recently approved new policies geared toward curbing bias by Seattle police. As reported by the Seattle Times, the decision sets new rules for how and when officers stop and frisk people in everyday street encounters.

The policies were crafted by the city and Justice Department, in addition to the Police Department and others. They are said to stem from a Justice Department report from 2011 pertaining to a civil-rights investigation into the SPD and inconclusive evidence found regarding biased policing.

Mayor Ed Murray is quoted in the report as saying of the changes in a statement, “The perception of racial bias in policing doesn’t just corrode the community’s trust in the police force, it erodes the morale of our officers…Addressing this very real issue is among the most serious and urgent reforms the Police Department must undertake in the consent-decree process.”